[blml] Without merit?

[Adam Beneschan]

> On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 07:45:13 -0700
> "raija" <mustikka at charter.net> wrote:
> 
> > 
> > ----- Original Message ----- 
> > From: "Brian" <bmeadows666 at gmail.com>
> > > Well, in the format in which it arrived here, it was rather
> > > difficult to read the hand and the bidding. The decisions and
> > > rulings were OK, though. I'll cut and paste the top of the original
> > > message (below) so you can see what I mean.
> > >
> > > Brian.
> > 
> > This is the format it arrived to me, perfectly legible, nicely
> > spaced.   I use simple old Outlook Express to read newsgroups and
> > mail.
> > 
> 
> And your copy appeared to me in exactly the same way as Grattan's did,
> i.e. with the format all over the place. 

I don't know what it looked like to Brian.  Here's what it looked like
to me (just the top part):


******************************************************************************

         +=+ The EBU Laws & Ethics Committee asked me to make this 
decision known on blml:-

           
     Dealer E
      N/S vul
      
      

      North
                                   
     
                                   
     Swiss Pairs
      
     \302\252

      \302\251

      \302\250

      \302\247
     A 4

      A 5 4

      A Q 10 6 5

      Q J 7

       
     
     
       
      
     West
     East
     
       
      
     \302\252

      \302\251

      \302\250

      \302\247
     K 10 7 5

      J 10 8 7 6 3

      -

      K 10 2

******************************************************************************

 
> The problem with posting with a client such as Outlook Express is that
> unless you're careful in setting it up, you're (possibly unknowingly)
> embedding Microsoft's standards into your mail. The idea of mailing
> lists is that they are supposed to be a TEXT medium, that's as in just
> plain ASCII, so that people who don't use the same proprietary software
> as you can read the postings as well. 

I agree with this.  Like Brian, I'm a Linux user, at work.  (At home,
I generally don't want to use computers unless I have to, since I
spend all day at work banging on them.)  Plus, the system I work with
is a bit older.

I would ask for a bit of understanding here.  I know that a lot of
people have used only Windows systems (or maybe Windows and Mac) and
their entire idea of how computers work is based on what they're
familiar with.  So perhaps, for some, it's beyond their ability to
fathom that other people have computer systems that just might not
work the same.  But to draw an analogy, that would be a little like
someone who has spent their whole life in a small town in Iowa
visiting Russia and being baffled by the fact that the people there
can't understand them easily.  

                                -- Adam